Eat Your Heart Out, Godzilla!

Rating: 8/10 (15 October 2013)

--WARNING: There may be some spoilers ahead for those who haven't seen the film, so just a heads up. In order to accurately review this film, it may be necessary to talk about some key moments.--
As far as blockbuster movies go, this one is only a few steps ahead of the rest. As far as monster movies go, you can't ask for anything better! Blockbuster movies are not suppose to be about the plot, and although Christopher Nolan films have proved you can have an intelligent summer flick, Pacific Rim tries to play up both brain and fluff, and to mostly positive effect.
The film is about these giant creatures called Kaiju, threatening the existence of mankind, and only man piloted jaegers are capable of taking them on, until one day when the jaeger's are defeated in battle, and the whole jaeger program is contemplated as an acceptable battle system.
The story and characters really just exist to add a world to the film beyond the giant monster battles, and about half way through you'll probably have already figured out where it is going or whether or not you even care. The supposed sad moments aren't really that sad, and the surprises aren't really that surprising, aside from one of two instances. The plot and the probability of the plot are so thinly stretched and far fetched at times that suspending disbelief becomes an exercise in futility. In short, don't watch this for the story.
The movie is a giant homage to the monster movies of old, so drawing comparison's between this and Godzilla, Gamera, or even Voltron can't help but happen at times. Unfortunately a greater portion than not of this film bares more resemblance to it's contemporaries on just about every level.
On a whole, however, Del Toro's signature style and all it's monster mayhem is all this movie needs to stand as a great summer feature. Most of the characters are forgettable, and the performances are standard fair. See it for the battles, as they are perhaps some of the best special effects you'll see in recent memory, and while they may be reminiscent of any CGI sequence found in a Transformers movie, comparing the two would be doing a huge injustice to Pacific Rim, and also deeply insulting to it.